by SD Tanner
Bombardier Four-Two was watching his six and he asked, “What are you bringing him back for? He might be safer where he is.”
“Ruling the Guild is his destiny, no matter how little of it is left.”
They were making good time through the base until they cleared the Navigator barracks. Beyond the walls were small houses. The wormhole hangar was a mile away in the middle of what had once been a park. He couldn’t see the hangar, but between him and it, there was massive jittering movement.
“Critters?” Bombardier Four-Two asked in disbelief.
Granger must have pulled the civilians into CaliTech, leaving the houses empty. With less people to kill, the critters were running between the houses hunting for prey. Every ship in their fleet was airborne, trying to slow down the number of critters landing. It was a losing battle, but they weren’t going to let one more critter land without a fight.
“We need to sprint through them.”
“We could hitch a ride.”
“The fleet is busy enough.”
The rear doors to CaliTech were already torn and hanging on their hinges. Bombardiers and Navigators were hiding inside of the barracks and buildings shooting at any critter trying to pass. Given they were dropping from the skies the entire site was already overrun.
Opening a channel to the Controller in the Command Center, he said, “Send the troops to guard the medical building. Keep some to guard yours. The site is overrun. We have to stop trying to hold a perimeter we don’t have.”
“Yes, sir.”
“When the ships run out of ammo bring them back here. You’ll need them to evac anyone left.”
“Where do I send them?”
“Back to Tracha.”
“But…but anyone human won’t survive the trip.”
“I know, but unless we get the wormhole working there’s no other option.”
“Then we should keep transforming people in the medical center.”
He nodded at the Controller’s idea. “Tell them to do that.”
Standing next to the broken doors, troops were firing at critters trying to make their way inside. It was a mile to the wormhole hangar and he wasn’t sure there was anything he could do when he got there. He was out of options. If it wasn’t working and Dunk Three wasn’t there then it was a waste of time. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked back at the site. There was a lot of dark jittery movement typical of critters. The sky was still dotted with critters flying towards them. He was standing in the middle of battlefield with no beginning or end.
“Get the fleet to give CaliTech air support. Cut them down before they land.”
“Roger that.”
Waving to his squad of two, he said, “Let’s get it done.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
Mata Hari
(Dunk Three)
“Breathe, just breathe,” he muttered to himself, scanning yet another set of numbers on the screen.
They were blurring in front of him, becoming no more than a meaningless cluster of symbols he wasn’t sure he recognized anymore.
He couldn’t think straight while his heart was hammering in his chest and his ears were ringing. Mariana walked over until she was standing behind him. Sliding her long arms around his waist, she leaned her head against the back of his. He didn’t know how she did it, but his heart slowed while his hearing cleared. The relentless sound of distant gunfire and screeching caught his attention, making him glance over his shoulder.
Looking at the screen again, he tried to focus. It was a math problem. All he needed to do was break it down, solving one puzzle at a time.
“You know this,” Mariana whispered in his ear.
“No, he doesn’t. You’ve made him soft. He’s lost his edge. That’s what a woman does to a man. She wrecks his mind.”
Dunk Two was leaning against the edge of the console table, his bloodied face screwed up in disgust.
“Go away. You’re not here and you’re not helping.”
“Why are you bothering anyway? Are you trying to escape?” Gleefully clapping his hands together, Dunk Two added, “Now, that’s my boy. Run away and leave them to it.”
“You don’t mean that. Dunk spent his entire life trying to help mankind. You don’t want me to run away.”
Conceding to his point, Dunk Two shrugged and studied his dead fingers. “So, what are you doing?”
“Trying to get Ark Three back.”
“Why? He’ll only die here.”
“You don’t know that. Ark saved the world last time.”
“So what? Ark Three isn’t a clone like you and I.”
He sighed, still trying to solve the puzzle on the screen. “Maybe not, but he’s my brother and I don’t want him stuck out there.”
“Oh, I see. You’re trying to save his life.”
“Of course I am. He’s my brother and I love him.”
He hadn’t been thinking about his answer when he gave it and now he looked up in surprise. Ark Three was the most important person in the world to him. There was nothing he wouldn’t sacrifice to save him, including giving up his own life. The sudden awareness made him smile and he looked back at the screen, even more determined to solve the puzzle.
Tracing the numbers with his finger, he saw what was wrong. “Got it.”
Tapping furiously at the screen, he solved one math problem after another. Dunk Two peered at the screen. “Oh, so you have. Well done, little man.”
Next to him a green light began flashing, indicating the wormhole was coming to life. The engine room behind the console began to hum as it fed power to the massive device. Screens flickered and the communications channel opened.
A croaky and tired voice filled the speakers dotted around the room. “This is Lace requesting ping back.”
“This is Central. Can you hear me?”
There was no reply until the tired and clearly recorded voice came through the speakers again. “This is Lace requesting ping back.”
Moving towards the front of the wormhole next to the main hangar doors, he muttered, “Damn, the signal is only one way.”
It meant Lace couldn’t hear him. Studying the vast chamber, he was hoping to find an obvious cause. Maybe the chamber needed to be sealed or perhaps one of the scanners inside was loose. He didn’t see what burst through the flimsy hangar door, but he sure felt it. Something sliced across his back like a machete tearing open his spine. Flung sideways, he crashed into the wall next to the chamber. He couldn’t move. His body was numb.
Seeming satisfied with almost killing him, the critter paused. Tilting its rubbery head, it turned away, shuffling through the broken door. Being paralyzed, he watched it with only his eyes. It hadn’t finished the job. Blood was filling his mouth, dribbling down his chin. He wanted to wipe it away, but his arm wouldn’t move.
Dunk Two was standing over him, bent at the waist and studying his injuries. “Oh well, that’s torn it, eh. Now we’re both dead.”
Mariana walked through the vision of his clone, slowly sinking to her knees next to him. “I will heal you.”
He couldn’t talk, but discovered he didn’t need to. Mariana had placed her long fingered hands on either side of his waist. Sensation returned to his body only it wasn’t pain. The warmth started where her hands rested against his sides then spread throughout his abdomen. Like a snake, it coiled and unfurled as it wound its way up to his chest. Traveling along his neck, it reached the back of his head.
Blinking, he couldn’t understand what he was seeing. A huge bronze colored city with tall towers rested on a flat platform. The base was covered in symbols and for reasons he didn’t understand he knew what they meant. It was a language describing the power of the mind and strength of the universe. His vision wavered and now he was in a large hall with an altar at one end. The room was filled with tall graceful creatures, all so pale they were almost transparent. None wore clothes and the soft glow emanating from their bodies hid their gender.
Surrounde
d by his own kind he felt safe inside of the hall. He wasn’t alone. Not only were there others like him, they were sharing his mind. They felt what he felt. They saw what he did. No longer a lonely individual, he was part of something larger, something secure. His sight shifted again until he was resting on a ledge or perhaps it was a bed. The room was plain with bronze colored boxes protruding from the opposite wall. They contained spheres of energy, which he used to sustain him.
The one thing he understood above all else was he was powerful. As a lonely individual he was nothing, but united with others of his kind, he was undefeatable. Power was the one thing Dunk’s soul craved and he was a replica of his originator. With power came safety.
He wanted to stay exactly where he was, hidden somewhere inside of Mariana’s mind. A flare of pain caught him by surprise, but it wasn’t coming from him. Mariana’s spine was broken just as his had been, only in her there was a healing energy. Where his spine would have remained broken, hers began knitting together, sealing the breach as if it had never been there.
She was an empath, capable of taking the injuries of others onto herself and healing them. His dulled brain registered the logic, realizing this was what she did for his usually insane mind. She healed it, leaving him whole. Everything was going to be fine. She would fix him and then he would find Ark. As that thought crystalized his vision shifted again. He knew he wasn’t on the planet, only sharing her memories, but the next sight destroyed everything.
He was in another room filled with glass tubes and rooms with viewing windows. Critters were floating in the fluid while tall aliens moved between them. Weapons. The critters were weapons and Mariana’s people wielded them with their minds. Shock shuddered through him, passing along his now healed spine.
Opening his eyes, he grabbed Mariana’s slender neck. Squeezing it tightly, he snarled, “What have you done?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
Falling Stars
(Ark Three)
His legs tangled with another set, making him fall to his knees. Lifting his head, he found himself staring at a human face. “Who are you?”
Immediately regretting his question, what he really wanted to know was where he was. Without waiting for the woman to reply, he levered himself onto his feet while looking across the room. Two empty tanks were against one wall. Instantly recognizing them, he wondered where the sleepers were.
He shouldn’t be where he was. Spinning around, he bumped into Cardiff. Recoiling in surprise, she asked, “Where are we?”
“I…I think we’re in the basement of the medical building in CaliTech.” Flicking his head at the two empty tanks, he added, “They keep the sleepers in this room.”
Cardiff shook her head as if trying to clear her mind. “How did we get here?”
“The room on the planet must be a transporter, but why did we land here?” Samson asked.
He shrugged. “Maybe it was the last coordinates it had.”
“Why would a transporter on an alien planet have this as its coordinates?”
Samson was asking questions he couldn’t answer. The alien-looking creatures that had been asleep for centuries were gone. Maybe they’d taken them home, but he didn’t care. Looking through the walls into the corridor it was full of people and many were children. Holding out his hand to the woman still sitting on the floor, he pulled her up.
Flicking up his faceplate with his other hand, he asked, “What’s going on here?”
Sounding frightened and panicky, she replied, “We lost.” Waving a shaking hand at the ceiling, her voice broke when she said, “There’s millions of them up there. They…they came from space. They’re killing everyone.”
“Critters?”
“Yes, millions and millions of them.” Her eyes widened and she waved her arms. “All over the planet. Nowhere is safe.”
“Where’s the army?”
Waving at the ceiling again, she seemed to shudder. “Up there. Fighting. They won’t win. They can’t win.”
Her loud and alarmed tone had attracted more people into the room. “Ark?”
The voice belonged to Tiana. Seeing her hesitantly walking into the room, he smiled warmly. “Tiana.”
Swiftly crossing the distance between them, she touched his face. “How did you get here?”
“I don’t really know, but I think we accidentally set off a transporter we found on another planet.” Taking her hand from his face, he kissed her fingertips. “I have to go. You should stay here.”
She roughly pulled her hand from his, reaching for the gloves hanging from the belt on her armor. “I am coming with you.” When he shook his head, she added sternly, “You need me.”
He didn’t have any of the vials they’d found on the alien planet with him. They were on the ships with Lace, Mex and the two BattleDroids, one of which was his. If the wormhole was working then he could bring them and the vials back to Earth.
“What happened to the wormhole? We couldn’t get a ping back.”
She shook her head, pointing at the empty tanks. “They woke up and destroyed it.”
Her reply at least answered one question about the alien planet. If they’d used the sleepers to destroy the wormhole then they weren’t friendly. It meant the critters he’d found on the planet were weapons and they were their true enemy. He needed the vials.
“What about the other wormhole, the larger one?”
“It does not work yet. Dunk Three is repairing it.”
“Where’s Tank?”
Tiana shook her head again. “He went to the larger wormhole. He wanted to bring you home.” Pointing to the corridor outside of the room, she added, “His son is here. He wants you and me to take care of him.”
“Why? He’s not dead.”
“Maybe yes and maybe no.”
He needed to be topside. Millions of critters were invading Earth, destroying everything and everyone. Tank was somewhere above him fighting for their lives or possibly already dead. When he’d left to explore space, everything had been well enough. How could their situation have disintegrated so quickly? Now he had a solution to the critters, but no way to bring it home.
Grabbing Tiana by the arm, he flicked his head at Samson and Cardiff. “We need to find Tank. He was last seen on his way to the larger wormhole outside of CaliTech.”
The corridor was jammed with people and frightened children. Most were sitting on the floor leaning against the walls. With his faceplate up, he could hear the distress in their voices.
“We’re going to die down here.”
“What will happen to the kids?”
“Why are they doing this to us?”
Tiny hands reached out to him as he carefully picked his way along the corridor. The wails of a terrified baby cut through his head like a blade. A cloying stench of sweat laced with adrenalin filled his nostrils. They were on their knees, brought down by an enemy that lived in another galaxy. Why did they want Earth? What could they have done to another species to deserve this?
Reaching the end of the corridor, the stairs were equally as crowded, only they were filled with armed Navigators and Bombardiers.
Staring up at them, he asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Tank left orders to make the medical center our last stand.”
“Is Central Command operational?”
“Yeah, but you need to be topside for comms.”
Realizing they wouldn’t hear any new orders, he said, “Guard this entrance, but all other troops need to get to the larger wormhole.”
“What for? It doesn’t work.”
“Just spread the word.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tiana was struggling to keep up with them as they strode onto the ground floor. Here there were even more troops. All were armed and they were rotating squads to hold the doors and windows clear.
“Ark Three to Command Center.”
The usually smooth voice of the Controller sounded surprised. “Ark? Where are you?”
“What for? It’s not operational.”
Tired of being asked the same question, he replied sharply, “Just do it.”
“Roger that.”
“Leave a Battalion guarding the medical center and I want the rest at the wormhole.”
There was a pause and finally the Controller recovered his steady composure. “Roger that.”
“Where’s Tank?”
“He was on his way to the wormhole in the park, but he’s not on the grid.”
“Why not?”
The Controller hesitated before finally answering his question. “I don’t know his status.”
If Tank wasn’t on the grid then he might already be dead. Seeing him stop, Tiana asked, “What is it?”
“Tank is off the grid.”
Grabbing his arm, she forced him to look at her. “This is Tank. It means nothing.”
Overconfident, bossy and too irritable to argue with, Tank never followed his own orders. He was just as likely to be ignoring Command.
“What do you need to do now?” Tiana asked.
“We found a cure to the critters on an alien planet, but I don’t have any of the vials with me. They’re on the ships at the wormhole coordinates. I need those ships back here. If we’re lucky then Dunk’s got the wormhole working.”
“And if he has not?”
He didn’t need to look far to know they were losing. Tank had left the troops defending only one building in CaliTech, the one with the children. Already overrun and low on ammunition it was an act of desperation. Given his long battle experience, he had no doubt Tank’s assessment of their situation was right.
“Then we’ll get as many people onto the ships as we can.”
“It is that bad?”
Raising his gun, he prepared to start running. Scorpions would already be heading towards the wormhole, but he would have to go on foot.
“It’s not just bad, Tiana, it’s over unless I can get those vials.” Twisting slightly, he called, “Samson and Cardiff, keep Tiana between us. We have to run.”